Science in the Classroom is a collection of annotated research papers and accompanying teaching materials designed to help students understand the structure and workings of professional scientific research.

SkyCam Report

Introduction

Your task is to prepare a “live report” from SkyCam 1 Totally Sweet News or SkyCam 2 Totally Terrible News. It’s up to your group to choose what scene or topic to pick from the book and how to interpret its scientific roots and its fictional roots.

There must be two pieces to your report:

1. Identify a concept/scene/event in the book as Science or Not Science, and state evidence for this position. Use this sentence as a guide: “Today in Prometheus, the SkyCam Team has learned ________________ (happened/appeared/went wrong). This is major news in Science Land (Fiction Land) because ___________________. We’re taking you live there now.”

2. Interpret the event reported on, asking the audience, “Is the message terrible or sweet?” Then you should report your opinion and reason for it. If it’s terrible, what’s terrible? The science/technology? The scientists? How is the science/technology applied to individuals? To society? The unintended outcomes? If it’s sweet, how and why? Does science fiction contribute to actual science? How or how not?